Hat holder



Sept. 8, 1936. R. G. coATEs HAT HOLDER;

Filed May 15, 1935 4 ll *IZ Patented Sept. 8, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIc-E 6 Claims.

When it is attempted. to trim a hat in the majority of cases one hand is required to hold the hat while the real work of decoration is confined to the other hand. Most of the work is done with the hat in various and constantly changing positions.

The object of my invention is to provide a holder for hats, or other objects requiring changes of position while being worked on, that will hold the hat in any position necessary to the work of the milliner.

A second object is to enable the milliner to instantly change the position of. the hat with confidence that it will remain in the new position until it is again intentionally changed.

A third object is to have the mechanism work so easily that a needle may be inserted into the hat. from the outside, the. position of the hat changed, and the needle then drawn from the inside, or vice versa, so that the milliner may watch all parts of the operation while making the stitch.

A fourth object is to furnish a. mechanism that will hold the hat in any position desired while 2 5 the milliner has both hands'free. for the work of decoration.

All of this I accomplish by mounting the hat between two crown pieces held together in any position desired by the milliner.

The drawing shows a. method. of carrying out my invention, but I do not limit myself to the actual construction shown but contemplate using all forms of construction in which my invention may be advantageously applied.

Figure 1 shows a side elevation of my invention. Some parts are in section. in order to make these parts more easily understood. Figure 2 is a. sectional view of the upper crown piece. Figure 3 isv a side. view of a crown cap for the lower 49 crown piece. Figure 4 is an elevation of the hub piece 3 as viewed from the left. Figure 5 is a detail of the spring washer. Figure 6 is a side view of the axle T, shown on a. larger scale.

In the drawing I represents the lower crown piece on which the inner crown of a hat is placed. This lower crown piece is supported by the lower arm 2, which latter inclines downward to the right, finally rising to, and secured to, the hub piece 3, as shown in Figure 1. The arm 2 is not secured to the center of the lower crown piece but is eccentric to the right, as this allows more working room when the hand is inside the hat. From the hub piece 3, and hinged to it at l4; an arm 4 extends upward and to the left and then downwards to the upper crown piece 5. The two arms andtheir accessories form av frame, separable at the crown pieces I and 5..

Springs 6 attached at one end to the upper arm 4, as at 6| and at the other end to the hub- 3, as at 3| and 62, press the crown pieces together with enough pressure to safely hold any hat, placed between them, from movement by the force of gravitation. Spring 6 is in duplicate, one being on each side of the frame formed by the arms 2 and 4. This duplication permits the center line of the springs to pass the center line of the hinge at H so as to hold the crown piece 5 separated from the crown piece I when the arm 4 is raised suiliciently, at which timethe arm 4 comes in contact with. the stop l5, on the hub piece a, and: held there.- by the stress of the springs. This is shown by the dotted position of arm 4, in: Figure 1,. where at 6=H is shown the upper end location of springs 6, whose center lines 31 to 3| I and G2 to 61! pass beyond the hinge center [4, thereby holding arm 4 against stop 15;

The hub piece 3 is bored for an axle l. axle should be in both the plane formed by arms 2' and 4 and in a plane parallel to the plane of the junction of the crown pieces and preferably in a: line that. would pass three or four inches below the junction plane of the crown pieces. The right hand end of axle-'1 is. firmly held, by the nutll, in the upper part of the clamp 8. A friction disc H5: is placed on the axle 1 between the clamp 8' and the hub piece 3. Onthe left; end of axle l is placed a spring washer I l,. which latter has a limited longitudinal movement. as: regards axle l, but is not permitted rotational movement on said axle. When the hub piece 3 changes its 5 position on axle I there is a tendency for the spring washer H to move with the hub 3, andito carry with it the thumb screw l3, with a resulting change in frictional resistance of the hub to turning on the axle 1. By making the central hole 40 of. washer H with straight. sides, as shown in Figure 5, and by cutting away the sides: of axle I for a short distance to fit this hole, as at H of Figure 6, the washer cannot turn on axle t yet still has a longitudinal movement on in. The washer l I; will thus be barred from any rotational movement around the axle and the thumbscrew I3, which controls the pressure on the spring washer, will not follow the hub 3, therefore the frictional. resistance of. the frame against turning will remain unchanged.

If the left end. of the arm 4 is raised until the arm rests against the stop IS the frame will remain open without attention. In this condition a hat may be placed on the lower crown piece and the upper crown piece then carefully let down on the crown of the hat. The frame may then be turned to any position around the axle l and the hat will be secure against movement by the attraction of gravitation. The inside of the hat will be visible, and accessible to the hand of the milliner, when the upper arm 4 is turned down. When the lower arm is turned half way up the hat will be approximately on edge and either side of the rim may be worked on. A stitch may be started with the hat in one position, the frame turned to a new position and the stitch finished. This is done with a very small movement of the hand. Both hands are free to work on the hat when it is moved to a new position. The hat can be moved around the crown piece, as a center, simply by raising the upper arm a fraction of an inch, then rotating the hat as desired, and finally closing the upper crown piece again upon the crown of the hat, all a matter of only a few seconds of time.

The lower crown piece I contains a central hole I1. Into this hole is placed the pin l8l of crown cap l8, see Figure 3. These caps, approximately conforming to the inside of the crown of a hat, give a firmer foundation for the hat than if the crown piece alone was used. The top curve, at the line of contact with the upper crown piece, should approximate a part of a sphere. The caps may be of various radii so as to fit the work in hand. The lower crown piece, without a cap, gives a good foundation for a flat topped hat, such as a sailor.

The upper crown piece 5 is of an annular form, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. At its lowest part, where it would naturally come in contact with the lower crown piece I, it carries a ring of resilient material II] which forms a cushion between the outer crown of the hat and the body of crown piece 5. This ring makes a good contact with any fiat, spherical, o-r conical crown that may be placed between the crown pieces I and 5. In order to permit the crown of a conical hat'to project through the center of crown piece 5 the left hand end of arm 4 is split for a short distance and the two parts are spread apart enough to reach the two sides of the central opening in crown piece 5, and these two parts, 4| and 42 are journaled on the sides of this central opening. This is shown in Figure 2 where l9 and 20 represent two screws, each of which acts as a part of the axis which forms the connection between arm 4 and the crown piece 5. The

two screws are in the same straight line. The amount of angular movement between crown piece 5 and its supporting arm 4 at the screws l9 and 20 is small, merely enough to cover the variations between thick and thin crowns, and between thick and thin places in any particular hat crown.

' Clamp 8 is a well known variety and represents a means of securing the mechanism to a suitable support. In itself it is not a part of my invention.

I claim:

1. In a hat holding device the combination of two co-acting crown pieces, the upper of which has a bearing on the outer part of the upper surface of the lower crown piece, each crown piece being supported on an arm, which arms combine to form a frame separable at the junction of the crown pieces with each other-a horizontal axis around which said frame may turn and a yielding means adapted to press said crown pieces together.

2. In a hat holding device the combination of two co-acting crown pieces, each of which is supported on an arm, which arms form a frame separable at the junction of the crown pieces with each other-a substantially horizontal axis around which said frame may turn and a spring means adapted to press said crown pieces together when the latter are near each other and adapted to hold them apart when they are widely separated from each other.

3. In a hat holding device the combination of two co-acting crown pieces, each crown piece being supported on an arm, said arms forming a frame separable at the junction of said crown pieces, the upper of said crown pieces being provided with a ring of resilient material adapted to contact with the outer part of the upper surface of said other crown piece, said ring adapted to serve as a cushion between the upper crown piece and the crown of the hat held between said crown pieces a substantially horizontal axis around which said frame may turn-and a spring means adapted to press said crown pieces together.

4. In a hat holding device the combination of two co-acting crown pieces, of which the lower is fiat on its upper surface, each of said crown pieces being supported on an arm, said arms forming a frame separable at the junction of said crown pieces-a substantially horizontal axis around which said frame may turnremovable cap pieces for said lower crown piece adapted to approximately fit the inside of bat bodies at the zone of contact with said lower crown pieceand a spring means adapted to press said crown pieces together.

5. In a hat holding device the combination of a lower crown piece adapted to contact the inner crown of a hat, said lower crown piece supported on an inflexible arm carrying, at its end, a hinged joint approximately in the plane of said lower crown piecean upper co-acting crown piece adapted to support the outer crown of said hat, said upper crown piece supported on an inflexible arm operatively attached to said hinged joint, said arms forming a frame separable, ,by the movement of said upper crown piece only, at the junction of said crown pieces, the plane of the junction of said crown pieces being normal to the plane of said framea substantially horizontal axis for said frame parallel to the plane of said junction, near said hinged joint and in the supporting arm of said lower crown piece and in the plane of said framea means adapted to support said axisand a yieldable means adapted to stress said crown pieces towards each other when they are near each other.

6. In a hat holding device the combination of an upper crown piece and a co-acting lower crown piece, each crown piece being supported on an inflexible arm, said arms forming a frame separable at the junction of said crown pieces by the movement of said upper crown piece only, said lower crown piece having its supporting arm connected at the approximate end of that diameter of said lower crown piece which is in the plane of said frame, whereby said lower crown piece supporting arm interferes the least with access to the interior of the hat when the latter is on the frameand a yieldable means adapted to stress said crown pieces towards each other when they are near each other.

RAY G. COATES. 

